Paul Michael Peters is an American fiction author. His works include "Peter in Flight", "The Symmetry of Snowflakes", and a collection of short stories titled "Mr. Memory and Other Stories of Wonder." After studying at the Second City in Chicago, he spent extended periods of time living in Philadelphia and Toronto before returning home to his beloved big mitten-shaped state in Ann Arbor Michigan. He also writes a blog titled Everywhere Man about his frequent travels.

During a very busy, and high pressure day, a thought occurred to me that changed my attitude towards optimism.

The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from October 8-October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying several square miles in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S. disasters of the nineteenth century, the rebuilding that began almost immediately spurred Chicago's development into one of the nation's most populous and economically important cities.

What many of us call “Sweet Home Chicago,” would be a different place if this were not to have happened. New Orleans may one day be the city of the 21st century after being rebuilt. All of the new technology put in place, governments red tape cut through, and the focus of the nations fellow citizens encouraging her, it’s like getting a complete “do over” in life.